Who’s playing you?

Gerard Butler is back in all his gritty, action-packed glory, in the Blu-Ray release of GAMER3D (2009). A film that is not too far fetched from reality, in that we can now play games via motion sensor applications available from Microsoft and Nintendo. Admittedly, I was ready to see this film be made considering the ability of the movie technology of the time. However, Gamer turned out to be a film that may have left many who have seen the film disappointed. Writer/director’s Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor brilliant concept for incorporating the idea of a first-person shooter as a multi-million dollar movie. The disappointment is not in the film concept, but its story/plot execution. The Gamer film has all the fancy bells and whistles it needed to be a spectacular visual enjoyment but, it’s the damn story that’s the problem.

In the dystopian future, men are housed in a prison and are in a fight for their lives. Technology has overwhelmed society with its conveniences and brutal entertainment. Gone are the days when gamers’ perspiring skin would stick to sofa cushions supplied with 48 hours worth of caffeinated drinks, chips, and a bucket–ahem–for those long, newly released gaming weekends. Bored billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Halli.e. Dexter) decides that it’s a good idea to create an opportunity for gamers, allowing them “get” into the game and live out their fantasies online linking human players to the incarcerated via mind control. Virtual “people were playing people.”

Except that, the prisoners didn’t like that dying is a real part of the game. Kable, whom the odds favor, is controlled by Simon (Logan Lerman), a teen gamer who gets Kable through the brutal game every week. Kable isn’t just some heartless killer, he was torn from his family and forced to fight against his will. The only way he can win his freedom and redeem his family, is if he survives the game.

The true potency of this release is that it’s on Blu-Ray™. This is a very good thing. In spectacular MVC (3D) and AVC (2D) presentation (1080p transfer – 1.73:1), this is a good looking film. The only qualms I have is the conversion to 3D; perhaps it has a lot to do with the 2D being “modified” to 3D. The standard Blu-Ray 2D presentation is immaculate. It offers up everything that you see onscreen with precise detail. However, the 3D version did not present as clear, and that may be because I did not view the film on a 3D TV nor with the “pro” version of the 3D glasses.

The 3D conversions are decent (judged using regular standard non-glorious theater 3D glasses), but the darker scenes were difficult to clarity. The impressive scenes were in the daylight or brighter perspectives. The grittier portions of the film–in 3D–renders poor in clarity. The Audio DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is completely immersible. The dialog coordinates seamlessly with the environment. There aren’t any distortions or overlapping audio. Auditorily brilliant.

Gamer 3D overall is purely all about the graphics. The film just looks very good, and the story portion–terrible.